William Byron Leads Hendrick Domination of Sunday's Cup Race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

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LAS VEGAS, NV – RIS – Hendrick Motorsports dominated the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, the four teams only left 30 laps for others to be in front.  William Byron, who had been running behind then-leading Kyle Larson changed two tires as all the leading teams on the way to an overtime finish.  He then passed leader, Martin Truex, Jr., and went  on to win. 

Byron had the best car in the field, leading more laps than anyone, so it poetic justice on this day.  N fact, it appeared that three of the four Hendrick Motorsports cars were far superior to any other team, with the notable exception of Truex.

The top three drivers were from Hendrick, with Byron beating teammates Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman. Bowman won last year’s March race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Byron led 176 laps and won for the fifth time in his six Cup seasons.

Larson appeared headed for victory when Aric Almirola hit the wall in turn four on lap No. 264, leading to the second caution of the day.

Most of the leaders pitted a lap later, with only Truex choosing to stay out. Byron came out of pit road ahead of Larson and then easily overtook Truex on the restart.

Byron, who started in the first row with Joey Logano, swept both stages in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet for the first time in his career. Truex and Kevin Harvick also won both stages in Las Vegas and went on to win — both in 2018.

It seemed that no one outside of the Hendrick camp had a chance.  There were occasions of competitiveness from most of the Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota camps, but not for long on this day.  It was total domination.

Josh Berry, who subbed for the injured Chase Elliott, gave it all he had, but he ended two laps down in his first NASCAR Cup race.  No details are announced on who will drive the No. 9 Chevrolet for the rest olf the time Elliott is recuperating from a snowboard accident last week.

Joey Logano won the pole for the race on Saturday.  

Logano, the defending Cup champion who won the Las Vegas race in October, hit the wall in in turn four on lap No. 183, ending his day. He was running three-wide with Brad Keselowski in the middle and Kyle Busch on the apron when Logano bumped into Keselowski, sending his Team Penske No. 22 Ford into the wall.

“I’m sure (Keselowski) didn’t mean to do it,” Logano said. “What are you going to do, right? We got fenced.”

It was a tough day all around for Logano, who was running 15th after starting on the pole.

“Considering how we’ve been here in the past, you kind of expect it a little bit more performance today than what we had,” Logano said. “Just off on overall speed. We had the balance somewhat close, just not fast.”

It wasn't a good day for any of the Las Vegas natives.  Kyle Busch bumped the wall, and Gragson twice was penalized for speeding on pit road. Gragson later was docked a third speeding penalty. Struggles in his hometown are nothing new for two-time Cup Series champion Busch, whose only top-level win at Las Vegas was in 2009. Gragson is a Cup Series rookie.

Unofficial Results: Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube, March 5, 2023 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway 
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps , St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 2, William Byron, No. 24 RaptorTough.com Chevrolet, 271, 1, 1, 5, 176, 7, 60, Running
2) 6, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 271, 2, 2, 2, 63, , 53, Running
3) 11, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 271, 7, 3, 1, 2, , 46, Running
4) 13, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Columbia Sportwear Company Toyota, 271, 8, 6, , , , 41, Running
5) 10, Christopher Bell, No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota, 271, 4, 5, , , , 45, Running
6) 9, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 271, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 15, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 271, 6, 4, 1, 3, , 42, Running
8) 27, Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 271, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 14, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Rheem Ford, 271, , 10, , , , 29, Running
10) 24, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet, 271, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 12, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 271, 5, 8, 1, 10, , 35, Running
12) 8, Ross Chastain, No. 1 GlobalTranz Chevrolet, 271, 3, 7, , , , 37, Running
13) 3, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford, 271, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 5, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Alsco Chevrolet, 271, 9, , , , , 25, Running
15) 34, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota, 271, , , 1, 3, , 22, Running
16) 21, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 271, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 7, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Fastenal Ford, 271, 10, 9, 2, 5, , 23, Running
18) 23, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet, 271, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 22, Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet, 270, , , , , , 18, Accident
20) 19, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 EnviroXstream Chevrolet, 270, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 18, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Nexletol Ford, 270, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 4, Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 He Get us Toyota, 270, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 31, Ryan Preece, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 270, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 16, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Smith's/Coca-Coal Zero Sugar Chevrolet, 270, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 17, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Quincy Compressor Ford, 270, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 35, Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 269, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 26, Austin Dillon, No. 3 BREZTRI Chevrolet, 269, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 20, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford, 269, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 32, Josh Berry(i), No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 269, , , , , , 0, Running
30) 25, Noah Gragson #, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet, 269, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 28, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Ruedebusch Ford, 268, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 36, BJ McLeod, No. 78 Circle B Diecast Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 29, JJ Yeley, No. 15 OTR Mobile Ford, 265, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 33, Ty Dillon, No. 77 NationsGuard Chevrolet, 265, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 30, Cody Ware, No. 51 Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford, 259, , , , , , 2, Running
36) 1, Joey Logano, No. 22 Pennzoil Ford, 183, , , 1, 9, , 1, DVP
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Length: 271 Laps, 406.5 Miles
Time: 2 Hrs, 50 Mins, 35 Secs.
Average Speed: 142.98 MPH
Margin of Victory: .622 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 24, 5, 1, 20, 11, 19, 48, 23, 8, 6
Stage 2 Top 10: 24, 5, 48, 19, 20, 23, 1, 11, 6, 4

Comments: William Byron has won the Pennzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his 5th career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. 

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: No. 21(backup car), No. 45 (engine change), No. 78 (unapproved adjustments)

Cautions: 4 for 26 laps;
Laps: 82-89 (Stage 1 Conclusion [41]);
167-173 (Stage 2 Conclusion  [7]);
184-189 (No. 22 Spin Turn 4 [2]);
265-269 (No. 10 Spin Turn 4 [43]).

Lead Changes: 13 among 8 drivers;
J. Logano 1-9;
W. Byron 10-36;
B. Keselowski 37;
T. Reddick 38-40;
W. Byron 41-185;
D. Hamlin 186-195;
K. Larson 196-220;
W. Byron 221;
A. Bowman 222-223;
B. Keselowski 224-227;
K. Larson 228-265;
W. Byron 266;
M. Truex Jr. 267-269;
W. Byron 270-271.

Unofficial Points: Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube
Rank    Driver    Car    Starts    GL    Points    Ldr    Nxt    Race Wins    Stage Wins    Playoff Pts
1) Ross Chastain    1    3    0    129    0    0    0    3    3
2) Alex Bowman    48    3    1    126    -3    3    0    0    0
3) Kevin Harvick    4    3    1    108    -21    18    0    0    0
4) Daniel Suarez    99    3    1    104    -25    4    0    0    0
5) Martin Truex Jr    19    3    6    102    -27    2    0    0    0
6) Denny Hamlin    11    3    3    99    -30    3    0    0    0
7) Christopher Bell    20    3    8    94    -35    5    0    0    0
8) Kyle Busch    8    3    0    92    -37    2    1    0    5
9) Joey Logano    22    3    -7    92    -37    0    0    0    0
10) Chris Buescher    17    3    -4    90    -39    2    0    0    0
11) Brad Keselowski    6    3    -1    87    -42    3    0    1    1
12) Ricky Stenhouse Jr    47    3    -5    86    -43    1    1    0    5
13) William Byron    24    3    16    85    -44    1    1    2    7
14) Kyle Larson    5    3    10    85    -44    0    0    0    0
15) Ryan Blaney    12    3    -3    81    -48    4    0    0    0
16) Bubba Wallace    23    3    10    69    -60    12    0    0    0
17) Austin Cindric    2    3    1    69    -60    0    0    0    0
18) Corey LaJoie    7    3    -5    68    -61    1    0    0    0
19) AJ Allmendinger    16    3    0    54    -75    14    0    0    0
20) Ty Gibbs #    54    3    -3    53    -76    1    0    0    0
21) Aric Almirola    10    3    4    52    -77    1    0    0    0
22) Michael McDowell    34    3    -6    52    -77    0    0    0    0
23) Justin Haley    31    3    7    50    -79    2    0    0    0
24) CHASE Elliott        2    -10    49    -80    1    0    0    0
25) Harrison Burton    21    3    -5    46    -83    3    0    0    0
26) Austin Dillon    3    3    -3    42    -87    4    0    0    0
27) Todd Gilliland    38    3    -6    41    -88    1    0    0    0
28) Erik Jones    43    3    4    37    -92    4    0    0    0
29) Cody Ware    51    3    -7    35    -94    2    0    0    0
30) Noah Gragson #    42    3    -3    35    -94    0    0    0    0
31) Ryan Preece    41    3    3    29    -100    6    0    0    0
32) Chase Briscoe    14    3    1    28    -101    1    0    0    0
33) Travis Pastrana        1    -5    26    -103    2    0    0    0
34) Tyler Reddick    45    3    4    26    -103    0    0    0    0
35) BJ McLeod    78    3    -4    25    -104    1    0    0    0
36) JJ Yeley    15    2    -1    18    -111    7    0    0    0
37) Ty Dillon    77    3    0    10    -119    8    0    0    0
38) Jimmie Johnson        1    -2    10    -119    0    0    0    0
39) Riley Herbst        1    0    0    -129    10    0    0    0
40) Zane Smith        1    0    0    -129    0    0    0    0
41) Conor Daly        1    0    0    -129    0    0    0    0
42) Josh Berry(i)    9    1    0    0    -129    0    0    0    0
43) Austin Hill        0    -1    0    -129    0    0    0    0
44) Chandler Smith        0    -1    0    -129    0    0    0    0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series